When it comes to UFOs, the U.S. has a ‘massive intelligence failure on our hands,’ says former defense official

KEY POINTS

• When it comes to UFOs, or what the Pentagon refers to as “unidentified aerial phenomena,” the United States has “a massive intelligence failure on its hands,” according to Christopher Mellon.
• The U.S. Navy formalized a reporting process in 2019 for pilots to report incidents of UFO sightings.
• Congress is set to be briefed on UFOs in June.

When it comes to UFOs, or what the Pentagon refers to as "unidentified aerial phenomena," the United States has "a massive intelligence failure on its hands," said Christopher Mellon, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence.

"It's extremely disturbing to think that, after spending hundreds of billions of dollars for so many years, and believing our airspace to be secure, in fact, we've had vehicles operating restricted military airspace with impunity on a recurring and sustained basis for many years," said Mellon, who served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The Pentagon declassified three videos taken by U.S. Navy pilots last April which show unidentified objects flying at high speeds in the Earth's atmosphere along with audio of Navy pilots expressing shock and awe.

The U.S. Navy formalized a reporting process in 2019 for pilots to report incidents of UFO sightings, saying in a statement that there have been "a number of reports of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft entering various military-controlled ranges and designated airspace in recent years."

Congress is set to be briefed on UFOs in June, but Mellon told CNBC's  "The News with Shepard Smith" that it is unlikely the classified information that will be shared with senators will be shared with the public. That's because details about strategic defense systems, like those used to prevent nuclear warfare, could be disclosed, and that would put U.S. safety at risk. 

Mellon advised that an important next step for the federal government when it comes to unidentified aerial phenomena would be to "overcome our self-inflicted ignorance, and start collecting data."